Our spring fling is a combination event: sock hop, bingo, concessions, bookfair, silent auction, plus a few other stations like hair painting. Our gym is jam-packed with both kids and parents. The parents LOVE being in there watching, so we have no problem. Plus there's lots of other things going on if they want to wander off and then come back.
Since this is our main "fun" event, we get the full support of the school and each teacher is expected to sign up for shifts. Supervising the sock hop is one of the most popular choices, so we alway have several teachers in the gym to help keep things under control.
Our only issue is how crowded and hot it gets in the gym -but they seem to survive.
At our middle school dances (where there are lots more problems), the principal has about 4-6 teacher chaperones. Parents are allowed to help, but teachers work better in this role. The middle school has 8 dances per year, so I guess each teacher is required to help with at least one. But that comes strictly from the principal.
Our PTO holds a Spring Carnival every year. At the end of the carnival we hold a dance for all students. Last year we had a lot of problems with the older kids not setting good examples for the younger kids. We can not exclude the older kids because they are welcome at the carnival. We are looking for ways to get parents to stay at the dance and for more volunteer chaperones. We also would like ideas on a more elementary appropriate dance. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
